The silver necklace with its all important charm is given to a bride from her mother in law. The charm with the boy on the qilin carrying a lotus is a pictorial pun symbolizing the wish to have a baby boy year after year. Other auspicious symbols in the necklace are found in the other beads or ornaments, one is a bat, the others are the two three legged toad. They are symbols of wealth and riches. The other beads are long six sided beads with beautiful engraved end caps, alternating with orange carnelian beads. The total length of the necklace is 36 inches, (18 on each side.) The qilin charm is 4 inches wide and 3.25 inches high. The total weight is 7.6 ounces or 212.6 grams. The quality of the Qilin and boy are very well done, The scales on the Qilin is a nice texture to touch. Dating to the last quarter of 19 century, the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty is accurate. The necklace was once gold washed, traces still remain. This necklace has not been cleaned.